10 JRPGs That Could Have Been DARKER

[@ErickLandonRPG]

Numbers 8 and 5 weren't censored. I changed the title of the video to make it about unfair censorship because it's being shadow-banned. So changing it is my way to give the middle finger to that. Just wanted to point that out.

[@AAAAAAAAA1]

Erick landon you give off real "teacher that cant control his class" kind of vibes

[@ltb1345]

Oh, I was wondering why it was called that, instead of just "JRPGs that could've been darker".

[@duncanedgin9433]

​@AAAAAAAAA1 you give off assonine antagonistic kid who has a shit home life and abusive parents, so he causes havoc in the classroom, which is way above their pay grade, kind of vibes.

[@mike1989libra]

Somehow they unsubscribe your channel on my account

[@xLuis89x]

@@AAAAAAAAA1 what is this comment even supposed to mean?

[@LeooSaGoh]

this video is getting shadowbanned thanks to the Nancys references in Persona 2. Even after 23 years, Persona 2 keeps being as superb as it was when it got released, and then Eternal Punishment came, just JRPG excellence even today 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

[@R.Williams]

Thanks for the JRPG deep dives!

[@Spacefrisian]

Here is hoping that the ending of Future Redeemed not only leads to a re-release of Xenosaga but eventually also to a re-release of Xenogears, heck make it a trilogy to give the full intended story. Also makes me wonder if the ending of Xenogears where it states end of episode 5 of 6 means the entire Xeno franchise is to have 6 series in total.

[@antiv4l3nt]

Well seems like Takahashi and team in Monolith has already made some talk and mediation to Bamco at this point but getting Gears would be hard since It's still Square properties and no mediation has done before

[@nobalkain624]

I just hope that if the do remake Xenosage they fix the Combat of 2. Its the only one I was never able to finish playing because combat took way to long, even for basic encounters.

[@kennethhernandez9243]

Episode V was in the context of gears only according to perfect works. I haven’t looked at it in years but I remember episodes 2-5 being things like abel vs Cain, zeboim, the diabolos collapse etc, it’s all stuff that was ultimately in the game except for episode 6 which is what came after. My head canon is gears is so far in the future its not really connected, just the same universe after the end of the eternal recurrence

[@therealjaystone2344]

@Modern Games Suck if it’s on a Sony platform, yes. Nintendo, on the other hand, let the studios to decide to not censor.

[@therealjaystone2344]

@Modern Games Suck before the switch era and it was from NoA localization to censor such words

[@raptorskilltor4554]

There was even more evidence of how dark Drakengaurd could be as there was a official manga that felt even more mature

[@jakalarf]

I'm surprised they didn't try and censor Velvets outfit in Tales of Berseria. It is just one broken clasp from a serious wardrobe malfunction.

[@Insert_Bland_Name_Here]

I feel like the only reason Square Enix decides to publish Yoko Taro's games is because they know that his games are gonna bring in stacks at this point. Even if they're much darker than Square Enix likes, like any company, they do like money more than their own standards

[@kannyboy1847]

He was almost utterly unknown before Nier Automata though, OG Nier did not sell a lot either before he basically became a meme with Automata.

[@R.Williams]

Or maybe their standards have changed. The world and its opinions are very different than they were 15 or 20 years ago. Things are acceptable now that weren't then.

[@xLuis89x]

@@kannyboy1847 another example of sex sells, lol (I knot it was more than that, but you can't deny the ''plot'' in automata''

[@kannyboy1847]

@@xLuis89x Automata's story was incredibly shallow, it really only did aswell as it did cuz Yoko Taro put Android ass in it, then responded about it in a way weebs would love and got them all to buy it. Not to mention how much of it is just Replicant/Gestalt all over again, ruining that game's twists for those who played Automata first.

[@ifrit1937]

Funny thing about Berseria is that it seems it wasn't the ESRB that forced the scene alteration but instead EU's Pegi board, in particular Germany (if I'm right) not allowing them to show images of kids getting stabbed with sharp objects (apparently they don't care about people stabbing adults though) on the T equivalent rating (but yeah goal was still to get the T equivalent rating everywhere). Berseria was also being localized under the EU team's direction too if I'm right so they likely focused more or fitting EU rating standards first and foremost. Granted the scene's just a brutal with the light cross more or less bursting out of Laphicet and giving it a more ritualistic sacrifice overall over the simple sword in the gut. While the ESRB is also trash they probably wouldn't have forced the scene change if the EU ratings board didn't as they generally let people get away with far more violent stuff with a T rating than this...granted throw anything sexualized to a specific point in and they go for the M rating (surprised they didn't try it for Velvet's default costume and rag costume tbh).

[@kasumi5772]

it's funny because i hate censorship with a passion, but i didn't mind the Berseria one. mainly because they made it look even more violent, but because it was fantasy violence they got away with it

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

Yoko Taro's games are not mature, they's like Slipknot and Marilyn Manson: childish, "apantallapendejos", like we call them in México.

[@justinrazon7200]

This video is well timed since Fear & Hunger 2 just recently released. Everything censored in this video looks baby stuff compared to that.

[@fiskburk2908]

With persona 2, yes there are several parts were they feel, not incomplete but that has something else going on, e.g. the part were you need to disarm some bombs

[@ci7210]

Meanwhile P5 has a student attempt suicide in the first arc. Made me realize why this game was rated M P1 and P2 need a remake.

[@TuxKamen]

When I saw the title "Stupidly Censored," I expected something like the original Persona, where they changed the races of a few characters and cut out a side quest

[@sheldonfredericks8034]

14:57 Its been a long time since I played it but wasn't the "christian god" just a machine?

[@ltb1345]

Yeah, it was a weird semi-organic AI being who tricked everyone into thinking it was God.

[@anime-cu7sq]

It's not meant to be the Christian god Deus is a demiurge But yeah Deus is a giant weapon A machine

[@denisfolcik1373]

I would love to see a Xenosaga remaster. I still have the first 2 for PS2, but going back to play games on older systems can be brutal at times. I don't care about the graphics, it's the QoL issues. Like being able to save whenever, faster load times, and faster overall gameplay. I didn't realize how slow older games were til going back to them years later.

[@nobalkain624]

Especially 2. The new Combat System made even basic fights a chore. Its the only one I could never beat because of that.

[@dragondavemk7917]

Thats called "being spoiled".

[@bustergundo516]

​@@dragondavemk7917 how is it being spoiled? Just curious.

[@dragondavemk7917]

@@bustergundo516 Simple. Lets take the autosave or save whenever. That essentially destroys the aspect of you being cautious because the game saved for you 2 minutes before the boss or you did it yourself with the "save whenever" function. With those functions, you simply do whatever without consequences. BUT if you have the old school savepoint in certain areas, then you think twice before doing something because you will lose progress and thus have to pay the consequences for losing, which increases immersion. AND i would also say it rewards you for when you decide to be bold and risk it all in your last move because you saved 60 minutes ago for example. So if it doesnt work, you suffer the consequence of going back but if it does, then the smile in your face and moment of relief will be your reward and it feels awesome ......on top of beating the boss. Now the faster gameplay........if the game was insanely slow, then i get it. But that wasnt the case with Xenosaga. However many consider it slow today because games today always have to be full of action and fast paced .....for some reason. I would argue that games older games like Xenosaga and its system encourage the gamer into having patience.........badly explained but i think you know what i mean. And no, before anybody goes "but i dont have the time", my answer to that is "make the time then". Just like you should make the time to go to the gym or whatever instead of wasting time on irrelevant crap. From my pov, people today tend to have zero patience, which is why the initial comment wants faster gameplay. I bet something like 2 or 3 times the speed like some SquareEnix ports have on modern hardware. Which is also why traditional turn-based JRPGs are barely a thing today (outside of some indies). Granted, i would agree with faster loading times. And iirc you couldnt skip the very long cutscenes at all. But the rest? From my pov, thats just being spoiled and wanting an "easier mode" (which is what autosaves provide). Finally, if you were willing to read all of this and understand it, than i bet you understood what i meant with the patience part. Thanks for reading.

[@denisfolcik1373]

@@dragondavemk7917 I'd say thinking everyone should play games how you think you should play, or be made how you think they should is a bit more spoiled than asking for QoL improvements. If you don't like changes, stick to the old school games. I play to have fun and relax, not to lose a ton of progress because I got unlucky or the power surges out.

[@RulerX.]

This was a great video. I hate that youtube can just shadowban videos just because the people in charge get butthurt. I’m subscribed and If you hadn’t posted that notification I wouldn’t have seen this video.

[@BluePotatoMan]

That's the algorithm for ya.. it's not very advanced :(

[@mangdepoer1472]

Just my 2 cents, darker stories in games just broaden my perspective. I do not necessary agree with the games' messages but I can at least try to understand the devs' thoughts. Games with darker stories are for adults, so respond to them like adults....

[@laruku-fs2in]

Gotta love censorship on video games....... not. I love stories that get real dark and bleak but with a bit of Hope even if that does not come to light. I like the sense of dread that some of the characters that I like may not make it. I don't know why, but all my favorite stories have had things like that😅

[@MrFaceNumeroUno]

What's up my bro! Yeah! Wish they were! Edit after full viewing- Whoa some of that is *super* dark lol

[@Mkain80]

Fire Emblem Fates, where in japanese version you can touch your mate on 3ds sensor screen

[@RicoLC85]

Xenogears is one of my favorite games. I still own it until this day. It's very rare now to own it.

[@orenges]

Fear & Hunger fans rise up

[@pixelcount350]

Waiting for a switch release

[@anime-cu7sq]

Its funny that the albedo/momo cutscene is actually more censored in the japanese version

[@DeathXtremeHaseo]

They kill GOD in Xenogears? Damn, I need a lore vid on dat shit

[@XenogearSolid]

It's a bit more complicated than that. Okay... way more complicated.

[@DeathXtremeHaseo]

@@XenogearSolid More complicated than Xenosaga and Xenoblade? Sign me up!!

[@anime-cu7sq]

It's not really killing god Xenogears is more interesting than that

[@graymars1097]

You know what? I'm gonna let it play on repeat now Down with Censorship 😡

[@nobalkain624]

While I agree with the sentiment, it wont do any good as KZbin only Tracks each Individual Account that watches them.

[@graymars1097]

@@nobalkain624 oh shucks I didn't know that Damn it they have full control over content creators 🤦‍♂️ BTW does that mean I always count as 1 view? Man I thought I was supporting my favorite KZbinrs with a second watch too!

[@nobalkain624]

@@graymars1097 Yeah it only counts it as one view. This is actually a good thing because it means people cannot try and fake views by just setting their own Videos on repeat. It has its good and bad points. The best thing you can do is to Share their Videos to other Sites via a Link.

[@graymars1097]

@@nobalkain624 yeah you're right people will absolutely cheat with that! Thanks for clearing it up! You're my MVP for the day's Internet 👍🤝

[@mickmars8319]

I don't know about ratings sometimes. The visual novel Chaos;Head, on top of disturbing scenes, horror and gore, has freaking experimentation on young girls (if you know, you know). It's bundled with its sequel Chaos;Child on the Switch and rated 16, so maybe they removed that, I don't know. Probably they were too lazy to do so.

[@scorcher64]

The "censorship" for most of these games aren't too bad/stupidly; giving it an unusually low age rating or a choice to omit by developer prior to the final cut/market release. My type of stupidly censored games are the ones that happens AFTER it's released worldwide after the Japanese market and its changes defeating the purpose of having an "M" rating, or changes that weren't lewd to begin with. Removing pelvic bone detail (Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore)...? Removing a belly button (Shenhe, Genshin Impact)...?

[@carlosaugusto9821]

Maybe developers deep down have different artistic intentions, but the fact is that the demographic classification is a real concern for them. Especially about big brands with a reputation on the line or starting promising games that obviously want to hit it big. It's really complicated to risk the game's exposure that way. Thinking about their side, that means risking an expensive project like a complex videogame (that even the simplest rpg) just for the desire of making it more violent or more sexual, etc... and that's hard to justify. The result is that most rpgs truly have to hold back on a lot of things compared to other game genres. Other mediums in Japan like anime/manga are much more chill in comparison to games. Like the Dragon Ball Z original manga/comic was published with a 12-16 year teenager classification.

[@xelthos2051]

Its great that a video about censorship is being censored. Dark plot lines are bad but Mortal Kombat can brag about their blood phyaics.

[@nobalkain624]

I also love how Official Trailers can show plenty of Blood, like with Mortal Kombat 1's recent Trailer but if other KZbinrs show it they have to edit out those parts or get struck down. Yet they try and claim they dont show the big Corporations any Special Treatment.

[@Mclearmountain]

Really interesting Xenosaga info regarding its censorship in the West.

[@absfinal]

I am just wondering which game caused the shadowban

[@DMaster8686]

Before even watching: all censorship is stupid and unneeded Edit: after watching it i can only confirm

[@CreamerOfTheDairySquad]

Whenever i see one of your videos i instantly know it's you from the thumbnail alone

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

I'll take the censorship of the 90's over the censorship of today, ANY DAY!

[@daiashthomas]

Hey Erik, I like watching your videos, would you be able to list all the games when you do videos like this? Either in the comments or in the description area? Keep up the good work 👍🏽

[@Muncheiy]

What I wouldnt give for the full 6 game xenosaga arc.

[@ivanbluecool]

I mean that's a lot of rpg that have lore dumps in the library and such. Tales of the abyss implies and even outright states things like slavery. Cannibalism. Abandonment and even self sacrifice and worse Symphonia has racism and genocide in top of political currupt leaders and even what happens to the girls in story. Xillia 1 and 2 with destorying whole worlds and universe's on top of eugenics Bersteria monsters so you basically have mind destruction and Again spirit slavery and even what happens to Arthur And that's just tales.

[@carlosaugusto9821]

But in Japan teenage animes will do things on that level sometimes. Their culture is different from western countries. They usually do things that westerners (mainly the older generations, that are more responsible for that established culture) might think it's too far for kids.

[@MrDmoney156]

@@carlosaugusto9821 Japan is just built different lol

[@Franaloudzx]

I feel good knowing i played the uncensored version of tales of berseria but translated with a patch in ps3. 😊

[@locdogg86]

I would imagine that a lot of jrpg devs want to create something targeted at adults seeing as so many of them went to school for film and are now adults themselves. I’m sure the suits are the ones that shoehorn their talent, never letting them remove the kiddy gloves.

[@carlosaugusto9821]

Knowing the cultural differences between western countries and Japan about the judgement and tolerance to contents in products for kids or teenagers, there are very high chances that there are much more censorship going in localizations than we imagine, not knowing japanese and the japanese versions. Censorship isn't taking only blood, swearing and editing girls' revealing outfits... There is the minor (in the sense it's subtle) censorship of simply twisting the tone of the script in order to adapt it to what is commonly acceptable to western companies. There must be many cases especially in 90s and early 00s games and lots of people just don't know it.

[@nobalkain624]

These days we also get Localizers that will change entire Stories Beats and Characters just because they deem them "Problematic". Then you also get those with big Egos who think they are better Writers then the Author. Its often a mess that is only found when Diehard Fans point them out.

[@Eggnificent]

It's not shadowbanned. It showed up in my reccomended twice.

[@dragpagsh6322]

Censorship is obe of the things that the mere concept makes me wanna puke. I mean what right doyou have to intervine anther persons art?

[@jenaehiggins7283]

I'm eternally waiting for Tales of Berseria to come to the switch. I loved it more than Tales of Arise.

[@douglasbriel6103]

Xenogears needed a manga like Evangelion,

[@tuanmudax]

Xenosaga is pretty good trilogy. I hope they remastered it to current gen

[@kaminakiske9313]

Your the best commentator out there dude! Keep it rockin!!

[@douglasbriel6103]

Berseria looking like Vampirella.😂

[@envy.of.e11even]

You would’ve thought by now xenogears would have a remake

[@XenogearSolid]

A remake would be quite the daunting task. But I think I'd prefer a remaster anyway, similar to what was done with SaGa Frontier. It would be nice if they can implement the cut dungeons (for lack of a better word) into the game (if done well by the team that does it) but honestly I'm okay without, the state of disc two and its content is really overblown. But what would be really surprising is if it never even gets a digital re-release (similar to Sony updating the store for The Legend of Dragoon for PS4/5)... that way it can finally be officially released in Europe.

[@BluePotatoMan]

The censoring of Berseria is weird in my opinion... still, it's a fantastic game. The fact it came after Zestiria made it even better. 3rd best in the series!

[@LuisD.Guitar]

Haven't seen the video. But I comment to make youtube stop shadow banning it

[@vaiyaktikasolarbeam1906]

informative as usual thanks erick!

[@turkidre1916]

I see I.D in thumbnail image I immediately pressed like 👍🏽

[@arclight7892]

Where's tokyo mirage sessions? The censorship of that was kinda stupid IMO to the point of removing them from the game and replacing them. Replacing the skimpy outfits i can understand a bit but even the swimsuit costumes were removed from the game. Since when are swimsuits considered inappropriate?

[@therealjaystone2344]

He already talked about that at his other video and he was pissed enough to talk about it.

[@arclight7892]

@@therealjaystone2344 oh ok, didn't see that one, guess I'll check it.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

You what I think got Devil Survivor a T rating? The absence of Mara.

[@outofpaintball]

i don't find these games to be that dark. well maybe a little bit, but not too much. fear and hunger might fit the bill

[@LTDLetsPlays]

And black souls

[@outofpaintball]

@@LTDLetsPlays ye, pretty much all souls games.

[@outofpaintball]

@@LTDLetsPlays sori i misread that, i thought u were talking about souls games. but, yeah

[@GenesHand]

What disappoints me is the amount of people defending these changes.

[@nobalkain624]

So my Wife and I have been watching the Tales of Zestiria the X Anime, and funny enough they show Aurtorius stabbing Laufecit in the Flashbacks. Just shows how the people who chose what to Censor in different forms of Media have different ideas on what can be seen, even if its for the same Age Groups. Man I hate Censorship.

[@dragondavemk7917]

Oh, and mind you that this list is nothing yet. There are too many JRPGs to count for a list like this.... sadly.

[@hanng1242]

I didn't count the number of times you said "dark" in this video, but it seemed like a lot.

[@bustergundo516]

I enjoyed Pandora's Tower.

[@deatho0ne587]

Do not think Xenogears would have made it to the NA if the second disc was complete.

[@XenogearSolid]

Why? The second disc didn't exactly have cuts for content but because of time. They were given a 1.5 year development time which they went over (they were given an extra 6 months to finish up). As Takahashi put it, it was the only way to tell the complete story. Without breaking it up with a "to be continued" which wouldn't be guaranteed to get made. Honestly he made the right choice.

[@deatho0ne587]

I think we would have seen a bit more of the dark side. Not only this but also not enough time to translate everything. Meaning just the perfect storm for it not to be released NA.

[@XenogearSolid]

@@deatho0ne587 The game describes what we would have got, the only difference is it would have been playable. Their development time was already extended once, had they actually fleshed it out as intended, the second disc wouldn't have been ready to release at all.

[@deatho0ne587]

An outline of a story (what Xenogears disc 2 is) is not the full story. That is like saying read the cliff notes of War & Peace and you will understand everything that is in the book. The story with more details would have been harder to translate, translation was an issue. The rating might have been higher in NA, maybe preventing the release entirely. Then there are a number of other things that could have come up, for example: two months later to market and SquareSoft could have just pulled the plug on an NA release.

[@XenogearSolid]

@@deatho0ne587 @Deatho0ne Disc 2 is more than just an outline of the story. And it's a lot of assumption to assume that the game's story would be wildly different if we were able to play the segments that the game narrates. It's condensed on the interactive part so we get the narrative. What's missing is the gameplay. That's important to remember. Which is why people liken it to going into visual novel territory. What we know is, what was left on the cutting room floor was done so because of time. Not fear of censorship. The story content wasn't any more provocative or darker than the other other parts which is by far the bulk. Quite the contrary actually. And adding the gameplay isn't really going to change the story. But it would have been a lot of work to get those levels playable. We got as much as they could do in the time they had left. Losing the least important things to the overall game. Your hypothetical about translation is irrelevant. Yes, if they tried to flesh out the narrated segments with the gameplay they intended, it might not have a NA release. But that's because it would have meant that the game wouldn't have met the deadline. So no JA release either, not entirely anyway. As Takahashi said, they chose to finish the story, in the state that would be the most complete. Which means cutting down on the gameplay to get the story to the endpoint... When disc 2 opens back up again. To reiterate one last time, what was cut was the interactive part of those moments in the story, not the story itself. So there wouldn't have been much more, if any, dialogue to translate. And to suggest that any that hypothetically could exist would somehow be too much for NA censors despite the other segments of the game having already covered the controversial story beats is a weird hill to die on.

[@SoloRogueStudios]

I don't think SquEnix rejected Taro's idol proposal for Ending D because it was too dark, but because it was too "out there."

[@TheNrat]

What happen to career soft

[@lukashenrique4295]

stop the censorship. came here from your status post because the video hasn't showed for me.

[@bnr32jason]

Fortunately most of these can be resolved thanks to the modding community.

[@bustergundo516]

True.

[@MrDmoney156]

and it's why i love the community and fan translators in general cuz they give the better product and 100% uncensored content than what officials wants to keep dumping at us all the time.

[@mr.sinjin-smyth]

Either a PC port or Emulation. Not so much on the original consoles themselves.

[@adrianmartinez-lq5he]

Velvets edgy behavior is justify

[@rabbitcreative]

Censorship sucks. Boo.

[@douglasbriel6103]

Xenosaga needs to be rereleased on Switch. Japan knows teens aren't stupid. I just bought Japanese Samurai Maidens so it wouldn't be altered.

[@therealjaystone2344]

Remakes on the switch can’t run to 60fps

[@autobotstarscream765]

​@@therealjaystone2344 A Switch should be able to run PS2 games just fine.

[@therealjaystone2344]

@@autobotstarscream765 kingdom hearts says otherwise

[@ivanbluecool]

Should have called this "top censored games" or "changes to western releases" as they aren't dark we just get a few changes here and there in your list Tales of bersteria is so overated and people just think it's the best for being their first tales game and velvet beings. Girl protagonist which isn't special Milla exists. It's not even that dark compared to everything else and story could have been much better if not for basically being the game they should have done rather than zesteria which was also pretty bad overall while bersteria was the patch up to that world in a better area of the timeline that actually has greenery and a point

[@theultimatedragoon2231]

It seems like your ideas are messed up and your point about why Berseria is overrated isn't clear.

[@ivanbluecool]

@@theultimatedragoon2231 and your argument doesn't say anything and adds or subtracts nothing. Thanks don't let the door slam on the way out Point I'll leave with it. Like ff 7 it's baby's first tales game and like ff 7 people just think its the best when it's where most people jumped in. Nobody talked about or cared for tales series until then and velvet isn't the deepest or best. Shes pretty basic on revenge and a lot of story falls flat with how velvet can be easily swayed.

[@theultimatedragoon2231]

@@ivanbluecool Now your reasons seems more clear. I didn't offered any argument tho, I wanted to see your "reasons" of considerating it overrated.

[@Dxsmp]

Agreed 100%

[@kannyboy1847]

I find the entire Tales franchise really overrated, played quite a few of them and none of them made a strong or even good impression on me, I especially feel like when you have played one Tales game you have played them all pretty much.

[@KisekiFan]

no offense to anyone but a lot of games are usually censored outside of Japan because people in the West would bitch about the smallest thing, worse is that they are all from non gamers. They think players who play these games will become violent because the game is violent or gory or because they show loads of blood. Lets not forget how alot of female characters and outfits were censored outside of Japan because they showed too much skin, also Final Fantasy 8 where we battle the boss on the train had a part of its body recolored from red to green because the red looked like blood. Its usually censored outside of Japan and as you said its always for the stupidest reason because people are stupid.